Mozambique: Doctors Without Borders withdraw from Macomia after armed attack

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Mozambique: Doctors Without Borders withdraw from Macomia after armed attack

8:18 CAT | 05 Jun 2020

File photo: Lusa

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on Friday announced the suspension of activities in Macomia, following the vandalisation of the health centre during an occupation by armed groups in what is the main village in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado.

“MSF had 27 staff supporting the Macomia Health Centre. They hid in the bush for almost two days. Because of the attack, MSF suspended its support in Macomia,” said Caroline Rose, head of the mission, quoted in a statement from the organization distributed to the press today.

The village of Macomia, 200 kilometres from the provincial capital (Pemba), was occupied last week for three days in a row by armed groups, who ransacked several commercial establishments and vandalised various infrastructures, including the local health centre.

According to Caroline Gaudron Rose, the armed attacks in Cabo Delgado compromise MSF’s activities, recalling that the entity had already suspended its support in Mocímboa da Praia due to armed violence.

“There are still thousands of displaced people who are also hiding in the bush for fear of returning to their villages. They are terrified of the violence”.

Cabo Delgado, the province where Africa’s largest private investment for natural gas exploration is, has been under attack since October 2017 by insurgents, classified since the beginning of the year by the Mozambican and international authorities as a terrorist threat.

For a year now, the ‘jihadist’ Islamic state group has been claiming some of the incursions.

In two and a half years of conflict, it is estimated that at least 600 people have died and about 200,000 have been affected, being forced to take refuge in safer places, losing their homes, gardens and other property.

Since March of this year, terrorist groups have occupied important settlements like Mocímboa da Praia, Muidumbe, Quissanga and Macomia for several days.

The Mozambican Minister of Defense, Jaime Neto, announced on Sunday that 78 members of the armed groups had been shot dead, including two Tanzanian leaders.

Source: Lusa